LAHORE   -  Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) has detected a total of 484 connections from where the customers were pilfering electricity in all its circles of five districts (Lahore, Sheikhupura, Nankana Sahib, Kasur and Okara) during its anti-power theft campaign in last 24 hour. The LESCO spokesman told media here Tuesday that the company has also submitted FIR applications against electricity thieves, out of which 177 FIRs have been registered in respective police stations, while 27 accused have been arrested by the respective police. Grand anti-power theft operations against electricity thieves are being conducted on the directives of the Federal Power Division and the LESCO Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Engineer Shahid Haider is supervising these operations. The LESCO chief vowed that the operations would continue without discrimination until the complete end of electricity theft.

The electricity pilferers as well as the LESCO officers and employees who facilitate them are also being brought to justice.

During last 24 hours of the anti-power theft campaign, the spokesman added, large commercial consumers were also found involved in electricity theft and all of them were disconnected and charged with detection units. Among the seized connections 16 were commercial, 07 agricultural, and 461 domestic, and all these connections were disconnected and charged with a total of 344,634 units as detection bill amounting to Rs 12.932 million.

During the 338 days of the grand anti-theft campaign, the spokesman mentioned, the LESCO detected pilferage on 123,076 power connections and 105,470 FIRs have been registered against electricity thieves in the relevant police stations, while 37,986 accused have so far been arrested by the police. The LESCO has so far charged a total of 134,585,097 detection units worth Rs 4,836,560,033 to all the power pilferers.